CHARLES BURNETT: A RETROSPECTIVE
Charles Burnett is the epitome of a cult hero—almost famous for not being famous. On the rare occasion his work attracts any notice in the mainstream press, the article will be sure to mention how little attention his work receives in the mainstream press. Despite the public acclaim of critics and fellow filmmakers, the festival awards and retrospectives, the MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant, the Library of Congress' selection of Killer of Sheep for its National Film Registry—despite his legendary status among a small cohort of cinephiles, Burnett goes unrecognized by the larger culture, the pop marketplace. His films are known to few, but among those few they're loved by many.
During the 1960s, Burnett originally planned to pursue a career in engineering, earning a degree in electronics at Los Angeles Community College. He changed careers, enrolling into the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television where he received his M.F.A. in film. Killer of Sheep was Burnett's UCLA thesis film, which was expanded into his first feature.
Killer of Sheep, about the emotional and behavioral effects of his job on a Los Angeles slaughter-house worker, won multiple awards and was added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, despite the fact that it never received commercial release. While radically divergent in content, Killer of Sheep is a kindred spirit to Todd Haynes's first film, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story in that it's been legally prevented for decades from having a commercial release. But unlike this mythically "unseen" film, Killer of Sheep has finally overcome its legal hurdles. The stellar soundtrack (by luminaries like Paul Robeson, Dinah Washington, Louis Armstrong, Scott Joplin and Earth, Wind & Fire) is now cleared. On its 30th anniversary, Killer of Sheep is being released from Milestone Films with a restored 35mm print by the UCLA Film and Television Archive with the support of Steven Soderbergh and Turner Classic Movies.
Want to check out what others have to say about Charles Burnett, The Godfather of Black Cinema? Then click here for some more info from NPR.